Ragnar Söderberg Fellowship in Medicine 2018

QualificationWith this 5-year grant, the Ragnar Söderberg Foundation supports promising young researchers at the beginning of their career, supporting the establishment of a research group and enabling independence. This call is addressed to researchers with innovative ideas, proven scientific excellence and ambitions to develop medical research.The applicant must:

hold a Swedish doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree awarded during 2012–2013. (This period can be extended by a maximum of 2 years to allow for eligible career breaks, which include continuous periods of at least 1 month of parental leave, clinical AT/ST-training and long-term illness.)

have a qualification through additional post-doctoral research at a university, hospital or company.

at the time of application have a Swedish host institution or a commitment from a Swedish host institution to host the project. If the applicant is not currently at a Swedish host institution it is strongly recommended to attach a supporting letter from the host institution to the application.

present a proposal of the highest scientific quality within Medicine.

The competition in this call is very tough. To be able to qualify among the highest ranked applications the applicant must be able to demonstrate significant research progress and have a distinct ambition to establish his/her own independent research group.

The grantThe grant is a 5-year grant amounting to a total of approximately SEK 7 million, excluding indirect costs and direct rental costs for office and laboratory space. The grant may be used to cover the following project-related costs:

full-time salary for the principal investigator during the entire 5-year period,

EvaluationThe applications will be assessed according to scientific quality, the competence of the researcher and the potential of the researcher to independently run a successful research project and become a future research leader.

Eligible applications will be evaluated by eight experts, professors at different universities, covering a range of competencies within medical research. Each proposal will first be assessed independently according to pre-determined criteria by at least four experts. This will lead to the identification of a number of highly scored proposals that will be discussed by the experts at a consensus meeting. Professor Carl-Henrik Heldin, who will not be taking part in the initial phase of the evaluation process, will chair the meeting. Together, the group will decide on a ranking of the proposals and the highest ranked candidates will be invited to an interview held by experts in the presence of representatives of the foundation. The interview will be held in central Stockholm on 8–9 October. Attending the interview is a prerequisite for approval.

DecisionThe board will make the final decision on awarding the grants. Successful applicants will receive a notification letter containing the terms and instructions on how the funding can be used and how it will be received. A list of all awarded grants will be published on the Foundation’s website in October. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified via e-mail and via ‘My page’ where the application was sent from.